Sylvester Stallone is going to stick around in the Marvel Cinematic Universe past Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, according to director James Gunn - although it's not quite clear just where he's going to show up next.

"My plan is to see more of [Stallone's character]," Gunn told the Toronto Sun. "I'm not sure about him appearing in Vol. 3, we'll have to see about that, but it's our plan to see more of Stallone. [Marvel Studios chief] Kevin [Feige] and I are working on what is going to become of the Marvel Cosmic Universe and where it's going to go. We plan to see the rest of them in the future."

The "them" in question refers to the group that Stallone's character belongs to in the second installment of Marvel's interstellar series.

[Warning: spoilers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ahead.]

In the movie, Stallone plays Stakar, AKA Starhawk - one of the original comic book Guardians. A mid-credit sequence scenes introduces the other members of that team, including Ving Rhames' Charlie-27 and Michelle Yeoh's Aleta Ogord.

Gunn said that while he's not committed to Guardians past the third movie - "basically, the story of this group ends with Vol. 3," he explained - he is already planning future Marvel movies.

"I'm helping to decide what projects we'll be pursuing outside of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and what the next cosmic characters we will focus on," he told the Sun. "It's my plan to have Sly - and I talked to him last night - to find a place for him in the future of the Marvel Universe."